Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
We were treated to the standard older-band-promoting-a-new-album set, with Throwing Muses playing a large section of Purgatory/Paradise. I know it gets boring playing the same songs hundreds of times over 30-plus years. But sometimes that’s what people want. Luckily we got some of that too. Continue reading “Noise Pop Review: Throwing Muses, Mark Eitzel at Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 2/28/14”
Noise Pop can be intimidating. It’s the best week of live music programming in the Bay Area, and sometimes it’s hard to decide what to go to, because you can’t always be in two places at once. (However, I will be going to two shows on Friday night. I’m a bit insane.) So, if I were deciding what shows you were going to, this is what this shows would be. Disagree? Well, you can decide for yourself by checking the schedule out here. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Tells You What Noise Pop 2014 Shows To Go To”
Remember the good ole’ days of Super Bowl movie trailers (~15 years ago) when there were only 2-4 of them and they were completely jaw-dropping? Armageddon and The Mask of Zorro in 1998, The Mummy and The Matrix in 1999, Gladiator in 2000. Nowadays, the internet is set ablaze with news of movie trailers set to premiere during the big game (with some premiering online before the game). Super Bowl movie ads just don’t have the ‘wow’-factor they used to. This year, more than eight movies had their trailers broadcast during the commercial breaks. It was mostly a visual feast of action/adventure fare, and most were new, aside from a few including 3 Days to Kill and Monument’s Men (which has too many ads playing currently). So, here are the cream of the crop:
Transformers: Age of Extinction
No Shia? I’m game! No, seriously, we’re all fairly confident that this movie has little chance of being any better than the previous three crap-fests. That being said, Optimus Prime riding a robo-dinosaur? Again, I’m game!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfOcV0eeg4
Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann present their Top 10 Films of 2013. Here’s Chad’s list, presented in the order of which he feels they deserve to be ranked (1 being the best, 10 being pretty damn good too!)
The Coen brothers newest film is a hilarious, thought-provoking, darkly intelligent, musical journey into the 1961 New York folk music scene. Featuring masterful performances under the direction of master filmmakers, Inside Llewyn Davis is a documentary of sorts — accurately capturing a time period and a historical mentality…yet its message is timeless.
Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s Top 10 Films of 2013”
All conversations converged to one singular point at the close of 1999: The End of the World, and because of it, every possible best list of the century. Whether it was about greatest album, or greatest toenail clipper, a list was compiled by the fanciest per-milenium robots. Now the singular list missing from the cornucopia of lists was: The Music of 1999. Everyone, consumed in their chicken little theories of Y2K and end of the world were too mad to see what was really happening. The end of music as we knew it! In reality it seemed to set the youth of America back about twenty years. (If you take a look at the top record sales for 1999, trust me, you’ll want to cry). I’m as easy going as the next guy, but the Grinch himself would have shuddered at the sound of pop music sung by teen queens, boy bands, and all the music to come out of the entire state of Florida. They all belonged on the naughty list, and should have been banished to the island of misfit albums.
Luckily I was able to see through the doomsday smoke, and find some albums to balance out the slew of trash on radio airwaves or Total Request Live. Continue reading “Let’s Go Crazy With The Best Albums of 1999!”
The intoxicating, nostalgic scent of freshly popped, earthy corn merging with the salty richness of melting butter permeating the air is a familiar movie theatre setting. At the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, where the annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) is held, our olfactory senses are still treated to this familiar comfort and all seems like a typical Castro event, at first. Not that the Castro Theatre is your ordinary strip-mall movie experience to begin with, however. The majestic landmark building, built in 1922, has grand stairways, a charismatic Wurlitzer organ, 1937 Art Deco chandelier, rare scrafitto wall décor, seats over 1400 patrons, and weekly shows “repertory cinema, foreign films, film festivals and special first run presentations,” as well as favorite cult classics, and occasionally hosts special live theatrical or sing-along events. It is certainly a major source of pride in San Francisco. Once you move past the enticing phantom of popcorn aroma lingering in the lobby and take a seat, the heavy, old-fashioned curtains part like a luxurious and dramatic movement Isadora Duncan would be proud of.
Day 2. A day that will live in infamy. Today I got to see my favorite local band play massive stage, my favorite band in high school make an epic comeback, and the greatest rap group of the last 20 years make a triumphant return to the stage. My life doesn’t suck…
Continue reading “Outside Lands 2013 Journal, Day 2: Saturday, August 10th”
Outside Lands 2013 may have been my favorite OSL yet. It was my favorite line up so far, and the weather was amazing. It never got too cold, nor did it get too hot. Also, I got to see two legendary, groundbreaking musicians that essentially rewrote how we listen to music. Not a bad way to enjoy a day in the park…
Continue reading “Outside Lands 2013 Journal, Day 1: Friday, August 9th”
It’s been a pretty amazing year so far for Phoenix. Their latest record, Bankrupt!, is receiving amazing reviews, and they are playing to the biggest crowds of their career! We had the opportunity to chat with their guitarist Laurent Brancowitz ahead of their upcoming set at Outside Lands. They are playing the Twin Peaks stage at 8:40 PM on Saturday night. Just a warning, we pretty much only talked about how much we like R Kelly.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Laurent Brancowitz of Phoenix”
Whenever the line up for a big festival is released, everyone is always talking about the headliners. However, there are a lot more than just the headliners performing. You have nearly 100 bands performing over the course of three days, and there is a good chance that there is an amazing band in the bottom half of the bill that you will love, but you’re going to miss. Don’t do that. You paid your $250. You should get your money’s worth. Come out early. (Also, the food lines are so much shorter before 3 PM)
Continue reading “Top 10 Outside Lands 2013 Acts From the Bottom Half of the Poster”